Fire On The Prairie, by Jen Benson-HughesAn insider view of fire and friendship at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve

During the warm months, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve focuses on resource management. The most influential component in managing Florida’s ecosystems is fire. Historically, lightning-created fires sustained ecosystems. The plants and animals in the prairie adapted with frequent fire. Fire is essential to this landscape, and it offers fire personnel a means to be ecologically productive, get dirty, and maintain friendships.

Most lightning strike wildfires occur during the transition season—the time of year after the winter freeze and before the rainy season when dead vegetation is cured and the soil is dry. Most thunderstorms in Florida are generated by convection, the result of instability in the atmosphere. Our area of Florida receives 8-16 flashes per kilometer per year! Lightning strike wildfires may be extinguished by the next thunderstorm cell, but in the past when left to their own devices, wildfires could continue to burn for days or weeks (maybe months). This rarely happens today due to roads, canals, and human activity. Controlled burning (prescribed fire) is a safer, cheaper way to restore and maintain an ecosystem than allowing wildfires. Controlled burns are simply fires that are thoughtfully planned with proper preparation on the ground, and skillfully executed by trained professionals to produce the desired effects for the land. Wildfire has the potential to do extreme damage if the wrong conditions exist, such as severe drought and high winds.

The Florida Park Service tries to mimic the timing of nature with controlled burns because the prairie responds differently to fire depending on time of year. Winter fires favor trees and shrubs because many of the grasses are dormant. Trees that encroach into the prairie push out plant species that require open spaces. But the response from plants and animals after a transition/growing season fire is remarkable: prairie grasses and forbs, bountiful butterflies, Burrowing Owls, Northern Bobwhites, and many other species that rely on the open ground of the prairie flourish and reproduce. This includes the endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrow(pictured), which uses patches of open ground as ‘run-ways’ to search for food and evade predators.

Fire is inherently dangerous. As Florida park rangers and land managers, it is our duty to ensure that controlled burns and wildfires are managed in a safe and responsible manner. Living and working in the most frequently burned ecosystem in Florida, we have to be well-versed in the techniques, preparations, safety protocols, laws, and equipment needed to conduct a controlled burn or contain a wildfire. All of this knowledge is not gained overnight. It requires years of training, on-the-job experience, support from the public, and cooperation among many agencies. The camaraderie among the fire crews is encouraging and supportive. Burn one time with a fire fighter and you’re friends for life! Birthday parties are more fun with fire fighters! In the prairie, fire equals life! It is a beautiful relationship that inspires many of us to capture the prairie’s beauty with our cameras, and we keep it in our hearts and minds. One of the greatest joys in this profession is watching the prairie and all its inhabitants thrive after a growing season fire. Oh, and autumn—you have to see the prairie wildflowers in September/October—gorgeous!